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LifeTouch W: NEC To Finally Ship Their Dual-Screen Android Tablet Next Month

Posted: 19 May 2011 03:02 AM PDT

The dual 7-inch screen Android tablet that NEC introduced during CES earlier this year is finally ready to ship (in Japan, at least). The company today announced [JP] that it’s now called LifeTouch W, and that it’s scheduled to hit stores over here sometime next month.

Here are the main specs:

  • Android 2.2 (with access to the Android Market)
  • two LCD TFT 7-inch screens with 600×800 resolution
  • CPU: ARM Cortex A8/Mobile DDR 384MB/ROM 1024MB
  • IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
  • 3MP camera
  • ports: USB 2.0, USB 2.0 microB, SDHC
  • GPS module
  • 5 hours battery life
  • stylus pen in the box
  • size: 135×208×23mm, weight: 530g

NEC hasn’t revealed pricing information or plans for international distribution yet, but one potential target group for the LifeTouch W are doctors, it seems.

“Super Hi-Vision”: Sharp Prototypes 85-Inch TV With Insane Resolution [Update: Video]

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:08 AM PDT

Can you imagine owning a TV with 16 times the resolution of HDTV (or, in other words, about the same resolution as IMAX)? That’s 7,680×4,320 pixels, and today Sharp (in cooperation with Japanese national TV broadcaster NHK) showed a 85-inch LCD TV boasting that spec, also known as Ultra HDTV or Super Hi-Vision.

Needless to say, the Sharp display is the first of its kind. Further technical details of the prototype are scarce at this point, but Sharp did reveal the 60Hz screen is 300cd/m2 bright and is equipped with an RGB LED backlight.

NHK in particular is known for having worked on the technology for quite a while now. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a while until we can actually enjoy Super Hi-Vision in our homes: NHK plans to start trial broadcasts not before 2020.

Via AV Watch [JP]

Update:
Our friends over at Diginfonews just posted a video that shows the TV in action (in English):

Now There’s An App For Going Back In Time

Posted: 19 May 2011 02:04 AM PDT

Friday is an Android app that let’s you browse events that happened in the past. You can see what happened on your phone since you turned it on the first time. It tells you where you’ve been, who you called or sent emails to. The app provides you with analytics of your entire phone usage. It’s much like an automated journal of your life. I like it because usually I have no idea what happened 10 days ago.

The interface is slick and even though Friday is still in early development, the functionality is there. Friday is currently in alpha version but you can sign up for an invite here.

Daily Crunch: Consumer Goods Edition

Posted: 19 May 2011 12:00 AM PDT

Fujitsu To Bring Out 7-Inch Android Tablet This Year

Posted: 18 May 2011 06:45 PM PDT

Just last week had Fujitsu announcing the TH40/D, a 10-inch convertible Windows tablet/notebook. It’s actually aimed more at the enterprise market, but Digitimes reports they have an option coming for consumers as well. It’ll be smaller, with a 7-inch screen and Android 3.1, but it’s not clear whether it will have the stylus support and keyboard of the TH40/D.

If it’s convertible, it’s got its work cut out for it, with the Eee Pad Transformer presumably coming out soon, and sporting better specs (in some ways) than the more expensive TH40/D model. Fujitsu is supposedly targeting a sub-$400 price point for the low-end (16GB) model, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

If it isn’t convertible, it may join the other devices that fail to differentiate themselves sufficiently from the herd. Hopefully Fujitsu works hard to make this thing a real option.

LG’s Transparent Bistable Display Could Be Your Future HUD

Posted: 18 May 2011 06:27 PM PDT


Display conference SID is underway, and all the cool companies are showing off their new display tech. Yesterday we saw a sweet high-resolution bistable e-paper display from E-Ink and Epson, and today Engadget has found another cool screen, also bistable, but slightly more… clear.

Yes, it’s transparent and bistable. Just add “flexible” and “high pixel density” and they’ll have all the buzzwords covered. The low-power display is able to show full motion in monochrome, and of course because it’s bistable the image remains when you turn it off.

What are the advantages over, say, an OLED display? No clue. The device shown is just a concept (a prototype, really), but whether it’s an evolutionary dead end or just the start of something cool isn’t really stated. At any rate it’s cool. If you’re interested in more display stuff, Engadget’s SID tag has a bunch of semi-interesting stuff — not all of it mind-blowing, but still worth a look if you’re into that kind of thing.

Pirate Bay Servers Take Refuge In Secret Mountain Cave

Posted: 18 May 2011 06:10 PM PDT


If your website is so internationally controversial that you’ve got Interpol and RIAA secret police knocking on your door every other day, it pays to be a bit circumspect when it comes to hosting. But only the most paranoid (justifiably or not) will go so far as to keep their servers in a top-secret cave in rural Sweden.

The Pirate Bay has been the target of numerous legal threats, some of which have had recourse to physical removal of the servers operating the site, so a secret location (or three) is an important step to keep the long arm of the law (and the longer arm of the multinationals) out of striking distance.

Those are the new servers, to the right. Yes, they are inside a cave. People really do that.

They’re working on a few hardware upgrades, and I was surprised to learn that the whole site is hosted on just 17 machines. Granted they are serving mostly small files and lots of text comments, but that really is just an incredibly small number of servers for such a high-profile site. Compare to Facebook, which has tens of thousands of servers in just one datacenter.

Why Is Apple Trademarking “Thunderbolt” Instead Of Intel?

Posted: 18 May 2011 04:58 PM PDT


A strange development on the Thunderbolt front. Intel’s new high-speed interface certainly made its big debut on Apple’s new MacBook Pros, but why would Apple be trademarking it if it’s Intel’s technology?

We heard early on that Apple was “integral” to creating the Light Peak interface, but those reports were later contradicted, and it became clear that Apple was more a last-mile partner rather than R&D. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So why the trademark? My guess is that “Thunderbolt” is Apple-specific, since it uses Apple’s Mini DisplayPort form factor — and while other implementations are possible (Sony appears to be doing a USB-shaped one, like the prototypes), it could be that Apple is trying to push their version as the de facto standard.

If Apple MDP-style port caught on, manufacturers and OEMs would be forced to license it from them. Free of charge, sure, but it’s a sweet bit of leverage to have on the other guys. On the other hand, it could backfire and become another FireWire if their version doesn’t gain traction.

And remember, Apple is just claiming the name “Thunderbolt,” not attempting to wrest control of the interface. It could be this was all worked out from the beginning. It depends on a lot of factors that aren’t even close to predictable yet, so let’s just watch and see.

[via Electronista]

Kinect Hack Could Eventually Translate Sign Language

Posted: 18 May 2011 04:09 PM PDT


Some French hackers have put together a program that uses the Kinect to detect certain hand gestures (which is, after all, what it was designed to do) and translate them into words. Right now it only recognizes “hello” and “sorry,” but the team is only just now teaching it words — the “build” period is over, and now it’s time to learn.

The video’s in French, but there are English annotations (leave ‘em on) and it’s easy enough to get the gist if you understand that “bonjour” is “hello” and “désolé” is “sorry.”

The skeleton they’re using, though, doesn’t seem to recognize hand and finger positions, which can of course affect the sign you’re making. But once again we have this gaming peripheral being applied to the advancement of humankind, as opposed to the frittering away of time. Keep up the good work, guys.

[via Kinect Hacks]

Microsoft: 1 In 14 Downloaded Programs Is Masked Malware Attack

Posted: 18 May 2011 02:57 PM PDT

These days, most “hacks” are more about an attacker’s ability to exploit your download habits, as opposed to exploiting holes in your firewall. In a review of Internet Explorer’s feedback reports, Microsoft found that 1 in every 14 programs downloaded are in some way malicious. The software giant also warned that more often than not, it's the hacker's mind-games that cause a malware attack rather than the software’s own vulnerabilities.

"Social-engineering attacks, like tricking a user into running a malicious program, are far more common than attacks on security vulnerabilities, "said Jeb Haber, program manager for Microsoft SmartScreen in a blog post. Since the release of Internet Explorer 8 in March of 2009, SmartScreen technology has prevented over 1.5 million malware attacks.

Haber added that the problem of user-downloaded malware is a "huge" one, and "getting bigger." The most recent version of Internet Explorer, IE9, double-checks the reputation of each site visited and notifies the user if they happen to be hanging out in questionable/unknown territories.

"Most people would be cautious about buying something online from a complete stranger," Haber said. "Using reputation software helps protect users from newly released malware programs – pretending to be legitimate software programs – that are not yet detected by existing defense mechanisms," he said.

[via AFP]

Video: Excellent Bionic Hand In Action

Posted: 18 May 2011 02:34 PM PDT


Body augmentation and limb replacement are just hugely interesting fields right now. We’ve got bionic legs, bionic eyes, even bionic cats. Bionic hands have been a troublesome topic for research because of the inadequacy of current technology in replicating fine motor control. This arm, being wielded by a young Austrian fellow who lost the use of his hand in an accident, isn’t quite perfect, but it sure is impressive as hell.

As you can see in the BBC’s video, he won’t be playing the piano any time soon, but replacing limbs isn’t about that — it’s about getting basic functions working again, like holding a glass or tying your shoes. Both of those things seem totally doable, and I’m sure stuff like pressing buttons, holding a shopping basket, and other common tasks are equally possible.

This is a neuroprosthetic, meaning it actually taps into the unused nerves that used to control the hand. At this point we can’t tap into too many — our electrodes and mechanics just aren’t good enough — but there are enough that you can have several degrees of freedom and analog control, which is goddamn amazing. There’s a ton of room for improvement, which isn’t a criticism so much as an aspirational statement. In just five or ten years these things are going to be looking real nice.

There’s more information at the BBC story, including some other researchers and bionic limb users. Exciting times, people!

[via Reddit]

HP TouchPad Gets Dedicated Teaser Page From Best Buy

Posted: 18 May 2011 01:40 PM PDT

In March, HP CEO Leo Apotheker promised a June launch for his company's forthcoming TouchPad tablet, and since Best Buy has already posted a teaser page, it's probably safe to assume that the TouchPad is running on schedule. Best Buy's page has yet to include pricing or specific availability dates, opting instead to mark the product as "coming soon."

Specs include a 9.7-inch capacitive XGA touchscreen at 1024×768 resolution, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with webOS on top. More specs can be found on Best Buy's teaser page, along with a promo video and an outline of the TouchPad's core features.

[via MobileBurn]

Dell’s 10-Inch Streak Pro Gets A Few Details

Posted: 18 May 2011 01:10 PM PDT

Hold onto your seats everybody. The Dell Streak’s big brother, the Streak Pro (it just doesn’t sound good, does it) has gotten a few extremely predictable specs. Are you ready to be underwhelmed?!

First we’ve got a 10-inch screen. Then, inside that screen, a million pixels. That works out to 1280×800, actually, which is pretty much standard. And then, under the hood, a supremely practical Tegra 2 T20 running at 1GHz, with a gig of RAM. Front and back cameras (5 and 2 megapixels) and up to 64 gigs of space round out the package.

Sound familiar? Yeah, pretty much the same specs as everything else out there. It’ll have Dell’s special Stage skin, and would likely ship with Android 3.1 (if it doesn’t, it’s sunk), but beyond that there isn’t much to say. These specs didn’t really even need to be said in the first place!

NY Times Editor: Twitter Giveth, And Twitter Taketh Away

Posted: 18 May 2011 12:34 PM PDT

I was tempted to make the headline “NY Times Editor: I Agree With Devin Coldewey,” since his editorial today, “The Twitter Trap,” lamenting the loss of traditional ways of remembering and learning, is a very close sibling to my own The Dangers Of Externalizing Knowledge. His experience was a little more personal, however, watching his daughter finally join/succumb to Facebook.

It’s an interesting read and he gets a few worthwhile perspectives from others, including Jonathan Safran Foer, whom many of you have read (though I haven’t). It was reassuring to read the piece, if only because I now know there’s someone eminent who shares my perspective.

Verizon Sues The FCC… Again… This Time Over Data Roaming

Posted: 18 May 2011 12:12 PM PDT

Verizon's big red flag seems to be transforming into one of revolt, as the carrier has chosen to follow up its recent Net Neutrality suit against the FCC with another one. This time, the Federal Communications Commission's new data roaming rules are in the carrier's crosshairs, as the new regulation would benefit regional carriers and their customers while doing virtually nothing to benefit the nation's largest wireless provider.


Zero Punctuation: Mortal Kombat

Posted: 18 May 2011 11:41 AM PDT

Get over here! (and watch other NSFW Zero Punctuation episodes)

Rumor: Next-Gen MacBook Air Coming In June/July Packing New Intel Chips, Thunderbolt Connectivity

Posted: 18 May 2011 10:47 AM PDT

It’s pretty safe to say that there’s a new MacBook Air somewhere down the pipe. Apple refreshes their notebooks a couple times year. Often the changes are just slight spec bumps, but as was the case with the MacBook Air back in October, others are more dramatic.

Today’s Apple rumore #439,060 states that the MacBook Air will receive a thorough overhaul sometime this summer and finally kick that nasty Core 2 Duo habit. Instead, or so the rumor says, the MacBook Air rock a new Intel chip, and more specifically, one from the Sandy Bridge line. This new architecture would also bring Thunderbolt to the tiny laptop, and would likely run through the mini DisplayPort interface like on the new iMacs and MacBook Pros.

The June and July period is right before the busy back to school shopping spree and a perfect time to launch the revamped notebook. It’s also be at least nine months since the 2nd generation Air launched, which is inline with Apple’s product cycle. So yeah, this rumor, while dubious as it come from Digitimes, is certainly plausible.

The Go Anywhere Garmin Montana Brings GPS Navigation To The Back Country, City

Posted: 18 May 2011 10:21 AM PDT


Some GPS units are meant for rugged work in the mountains while others rarely leave the comforts of the city. The just-announced Garmin Montana can do both. Not only is it powerful, but it’s rugged and features various mounting options for different usages including windshield and dash. There’s a 4-inch dual-orientation screen and even a 5MP autofocus camera. It’s powered by either a 16-hour LiON pack or three AA batteries for even more versatility.

The Montana, as we’ve said several times, can pull double duty and to that end can display both turn-by-turn navigation, marine maps, or topographic maps. There’s even satellite data available if owners are willing to buy the subscription. The Montana 650t will be available for pre-ordering shortly for $699. Click through for a quick ad spot.

Apple Employees Trade Out iPod touch For iPad 2?

Posted: 18 May 2011 09:24 AM PDT

One of my favorite parts about a trip to the Apple store is when my blue-shirted employee checks me out with his iPod touch-based EasyPay Terminal. It's quick, requires little to no effort on my part, and it's just plain cool. Well, it looks like Apple employees will be turning in their iPod touches for the iPad 2, as Apple stores have received dozens of iPad 2s with magnetic Smart Covers designated for employee use.

According to AppleInsider, employee training and implementation of the iPad 2 could begin as early as this weekend. In fact, one location with around 100 specialists received a shipment of 40 iPads, meaning that virtually every employee in the store would be sporting an iPad. A ratio like that leads us to believe that the iPad will in fact replace the iPod touch EasyPay system, as the iPad's size is also more conducive to actions like signing a receipt or showing off product features.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine just how Apple employees would be able to comfortably and effectively wield an iPad as opposed to an iPod touch-sized device. Unless it's placed on a desk (and all Apple fans know that employees use no such desk when completing a purchase), inputting information and other activities could become tedious. If that's the case, the iPod touch may not be on its way out, after all, but instead act as a complimentary device to the iPad.

[via AppleInsider]

Corum Admiral’s Cup Legend 42 Watch

Posted: 18 May 2011 08:56 AM PDT

The case design is based on the iconic Admirals’ Cup collection that Corum has been pushing lately. They have transformed the sport watch into a formal watch – and the metamorphosis feels natural. The case has that 12 sided shape and comes in steel or 18k rose gold. The bezel is polished while much of the rest of the case is brushed. There is just enough sport to the design to make it feel not boring, while much of it is taken from the other Admiral’s Cup pieces. The 42mm wide size is smaller than the 44mm wide case that most of the AC watches come in. But the relatively thin bezel and clear face give the piece a good stature.

Read the rest here…
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